Tis Christmas time and you’ve realized how wonderful it is to have a big green tree in your living room for the past few weeks! But there’s this sinking feeling hiding behind this joy none of us want to acknowledge ... what’s going to fill the gaping void in our hearts, I mean living rooms when it’s time to part ways with that lovely evergreen?

We are dishing on some of our favorite house plants to replace your Christmas tree so your home doesn’t feel naked in January!

Plants have become one of our favorite decor accents and have been learning what works well (and some not so much!) in our apartment. We’ve been wanting to do a deeper dive on plants for a while and wouldn’t go fully into them today, but for now here’s some plant inspo :)

Fiddle Leaf FiG

Mr Fiddle Leaf was one our first plant purchases as a newly wed couple and has been growing stronger by the day over the past year and a half. Over time he’s shed more of his bottom leaves as they got quite large and also as he’s been growing much taller (at least 50% bigger from when we first brought it home!). He’s done well near our west facing window.

Water: Typically 2x / week

Sunlight: Needs sun, but indirect exposure.

Snake Plan

Similar to the Fiddle Leaf, the snake plant (also sometimes called “mother in law’s tongue” - why? We have no idea either 😂) will add height to your space. The best part about our snake plant - LOW MAINTENANCE. We water her maybe once every two weeks. And there’s tons of fun mid century modern planters that they look great in - like this one ! On top of not needing much water, these plants do well without much sunlight. We have had ours in the corner of our bedroom which doesn’t get much sun and it’s been doing great!

Water: Once every 2 Weeks

Sunlight: Minimal

Wall Plants

Another fun way to work plants into your space is through wall or hanging plants. Maybe you had a smaller tree and are tighter on space (like our tiny little bedroom). Wall plants take up virtually no space while adding greenery. Potting plants that will grow in length can hang easily off of shelves as well. For all the details on these planters, head over to our previous post - modern bedroom makeover.

Succulents

And finally, if you are not a green thumb but still want to add some plants to your space, succulents are an easy to maintain option. And there are SO many unique varieties. In the warmer months, we find ourselves at our local plant and garden shop, Adams & Sons, and have to hold back from picking up a few new succulents every time (they put them at the checkout line like candy and gum at the grocery store and I’m sucker for those!). Just a few spritz a couple of times a week to keep most succulents happy :)

With love from Chicago,

Daniel + Jennifer

Day 9: House Plants to Replace Your Christmas Tree